Saturday, June 24, 2006

Bombings in Basra, Hibhib kill at least 20

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number 2 man in al-Qaeda, released a video Friday in which he pledged that the organization would take revenge on the United States for the killing of Zarqawi. He quoted Bin Laden as saying that the Americans would never rest easy until the Palestinians have their rights. In a recent video, al-Zawahiri had urged the jihadis to concentrate on Afghanistan, but on Friday he again expanded the field of endeavor.

Up to ten persons were killed and 15 injured by a car bombing near a gas station in the southern port city Basra. The Basra governor attempted to downplay the number of deaths.

Another bombing, near a mosque in the small town of Hibhib near Baqubah, killed 10 and wounded 15. Hibhib was where the US recently killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In nearby Buhriz, a roadside bomb at an army checkpoint wounded 3 civilians. Iraqi soldiers laid down fire around them in response, wounding another 11 civilians.

In downtown Baghdad, Iraqi policemen and soldiers clashed with guerrillas around Haifa Street. Three to five Iraqi police and/or army soldiers were wounded. There are also reports of US troops battling the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite nationalist Muqtada al-Sadr.

Police fished 5 bodies out of the Tigris near Kadhimiyah. The bodies were probably those of factory workers kidnapped last week.

Also in the capital, 4 more US troops were announced killed.

In Kirkuk, the sister of the former speaker of the Iraqi parliament was injured in an attack.